Turn Around
by TrimbyJean
Summary: One-shot. Kinda angtsy. What if, at the end of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', Puck walked out the door with Rachel instead of Quinn?


**Summary**: What if, at the end of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', Puck walked out the door with Rachel instead of Quinn?

*I think some people tend to forget the awesomeness that was Rachel performing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' in season one's 'Bad Reputation'. It was a kickass rendition (in my opinion) that totally makes Run Joey Run a thankfully distant memory. Better yet, it did have that one TEENY TINY Puck addition, which I basically just took and ran with. So, forgive me if it's not that great, but it came to me suddenly.

**Also, this means that everything up until this point has happened the way it did in the show.

**Disclaimer**: The mistakes are mine. Auto-correct only goes so far, and my Beta is away at college and broke her laptop -_-

Puck slouched in his seat as Rachel poured her heart out in song to the two dumbasses near him. Finn wouldn't really look at her, except for occasional glances, and Jesse St. Jerk was pretty intent on the floor. Rachel was near tears as she belted out a pretty good (okay, better than good, every song she sang was fuckin' epic) version of some 80s song. As she hit the last bit, Finn stood and left, and everyone else followed his lead. Quinn stood and held out her hand, but he ignored her, and she stormed off in a huff. Even Jesse left, with one last glance back at the tiny brunette. Soon, the only people left in the room were him and Berry.

Thing is, while he was pretty pissed about the Run Joey Run shit, he understood it. Rachel just wanted to be liked, and in her crazy little brain, that had been the best way to do it. Mostly, he was pissed he'd been triple cast. He'd liked the thought of being Berry's Joey. Ever since their stupid break-up on the bleachers, he'd been regretting letting her go. And yeah, maybe it was partly Quinn's constant bitching, or his mom getting all up in his face about how disappointed she was in him for, "at the very least, not knocking up a Jewish girl". But really, he thought it was because Rachel actually listened, and cared. Sure, she didn't know when to shut up half the time, but when she listened, she really _listened_- gave you all her attention and just let you get it out. And then she'd respond with this smart shit that made perfect sense, and you probably should've gotten it yourself, but it just sounds better coming out of her cute, talented (in more ways than one) mouth. She'd been nice to make out with, even if she wouldn't let him touch her boobs, and she'd been so sweet and understanding about him choosing football that it made him feel like an ass for doing it. So he hadn't, for her. He'd walked into that choir room, head hung, hoping she'd still accept him, and when her face lit up with that smile and she asked him about being slushied every day, he knew he'd take worse if it meant seeing her smile like that for him some more. (He was still a totally badass, shut up).

So, yeah, he had a soft spot (and a hard one, those skirts were torture) for Berry, and since Finn and Jesse weren't manning up, he guessed it was up to him. He watched as Rachel stacked her sheet music and slid it quietly into her binder, her back to him. He heard her sniffle a little and for a brief second debated bolting (he did not handle crying women), but shook his head. He could cheer her up in no time.

"So, you and Mini-Schue call it quits, yet?" She jumped at his voice and spun around, a hand on her chest. He smirked.

"Noah! You scared me!" She rubbed at her face and he stood, striding over to her and taking her tiny (cute) hands in his big ones. "Noah, really, what-"

He kissed her. He really hadn't meant to, he was gonna say some stupid shit about how they were cool, and he forgave her, and Finn and Jesse were douches, but all that went through his mind was how that little pink mouth needed to be kissed, and fast. So he went for it. Apparently, she didn't mind that much, because she leaned into him a bit and closed her eyes.

They stood like that for a few minutes, holding hands and just kissing. It wasn't a make-out session or anything (that was for later, if she let him), it was just two people, who always seemed to catch each other at the wrong time but were obviously right together, kissing. When they finally broke apart, she gasped a little in complaint, and he had a huge grin on his face. She smiled up at him awkwardly, and took her hands from his before turning back to the piano. "I'm going to assume that means you forgive me for the Run Joey Run incident."

He spun her around and kissed her again, a little more forcefully and lingering this time. She sighed and put her arms around him, and when they parted, her eyes were glazed a bit. He grinned again and leaned in so that their noses touched. "Already forgotten, babe. And, for the record, I think what you did was totally badass." She blushed and untangled herself from him, grabbing her binder and moving to her chair to put it in her backpack, once again giving him her back. He rolled his eyes in irritation and followed her.

"Rach, turn around." She ignored him and busied herself with her pink trolley. He ran a hand through his 'hawk to resist the urge to grab her and cart her off somewhere when he realized he was getting a great view of her ass (those skirts should be illegal). "Rach, c'mon."

"Look, Noah," she was practically mumbling, and he had to strain to hear her. "It's very nice of you to forgive me for what I did, and while I don't completely understand it, that kiss was very nice butIjustdon''thavehappened." She rushed the last bit out, stood, and turned right into his chest. He caged his arms around her as she struggled to get free. "Noah, let me go! No matter how lovely your arms are, I don't wish to be captured in them right now!" She squirmed, unaware at how dangerously close she was getting him to locking the choir room door and just shutting her up another way.

"Look, Rach, we've been doing this dancing around each other shit for awhile now, and it's getting old." He said as she quieted. "Sometimes we'll say hi to each other, and other times we won't, and sometimes we'll talk in the middle of the night, and then we pretend we didn't, and sometimes I really wanna kiss you, but I can't…" He trailed off and tried to remember his point. "I'm sick of this shit, Rachel. I lied on the bleachers, okay? I lied because I didn't wanna be friends, and I didn't wanna be friends because you were right- I wasn't gonna break up with you. Yeah, you wouldn't let me touch your boobs- I'dve gotten there eventually- and yeah, I was kinda hung up on Quinn, but that's because she's carrying my spawn in her, not because I love her. And you, you don't need Finn, or St. Jerk. You need a leading man, I'll be your leading man. Already proved I can sing a solo." He looked down at her, got real close so she couldn't avoid looking back at him. "So here's what's gonna happen, Berry. It's over for you, with any guy, 'cause you're _my_ girl now. Got that? And I won't go running to Quinn, or Santana, or anybody else, 'cause keeping you satisfied is gonna be my full-time job. And it'll be the _best_ job I ever had."

Rachel giggled and he raised an eyebrow. "Better than pool cleaning?" She asked softly, her hands on his chest. He laughed and let her go, holding on to one of her hands and lacing their fingers together. She grabbed her trolley and they headed for the door.

"Way better than that, bright eyes. _Way_ better."

**So, can I just say that during the beginning of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', Puck's face when he sang "Turn around" was like, O.O... There was like, some kind of sadness and maybe a little desperation there. Then again, it could just be my yearning Puckleberry heart reaching WAY too far and seeing invisible loveliness... *sigh* Anyway, this one was kinda angtsy, which I don't really like writing, but it sorta wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it... So, I'll go back to cute, soft fluff now! With the ocassional smut...**


End file.
